Court is closed but ticket says to appear

<p>Santa Rosa truck driver-turned house renovator Jason Moore was sweating his day in court.</p><p>His unblemished driving record was threatened by a speeding ticket he picked up about two months ago on River Road and he hoped the judge would allow him to take traffic school to keep points off his license.</p><p>So he missed work Wednesday and headed down to Sonoma Superior Court's traffic division, his notice to appear in hand.</p><p>But the judge wasn't there. Neither were the clerks. A sign on the locked door said the court was closed every third Wednesday of the month due to statewide budget cuts.</p><p>“It's very agitating,” said Moore, who was among dozens of others compelled to appear Wednesday only to be turned away. “I cannot believe they would schedule 40 of us to be here and not show up.”</p><p>The confusion came in the second month of a court closure program aimed at saving the state more than $90 million. Courts were closed for the first time Sept. 17.</p><p>Certain offices in the Hall of Justice remained open such as those of the Public Defender, District Attorney and Probation Department. Employees came to work dressed casually for what was widely viewed as a “catch up” day.</p><p>For all other functions, the courthouse was closed. Signs posted around the facility explained it was shut as part of “an unprecedented statewide fiscal crisis.” The closures will continue into summer. </p><p>People who showed up with notices to appear Wednesday likely got their tickets around the time the new policy was enacted in August.</p><p>CHP Officer Jon Sloat said his department received a list of closure dates about a month and a half ago but appearances were set up to 60 days in advance.</p><p>The CHP was supposed to send amended court dates, Sloat said, but some who got cited in the “fuzzy gray time” obviously didn't receive word. They should call the court immediately to get their new date, he said.</p><p>Officers will no longer set appearances on the third Wednesday of each month, Sloat said. The next closure is Nov. 18.</p><p>“Some people showing up may have been issued a court date before we knew it would be closing,” Sloat said. “But we're good now.”</p><p>That was little consolation to Moore and others who were trying to meet their legal obligations.</p><p>Moore, 45, said that by 8 a.m., the hallway outside room No. 109-J was packed with people, many of whom missed work to come to the courthouse. The visit cost Moore $160 in lost pay and put him on thin ice with his boss, he said.</p><p>After waiting a while, Moore said he ducked into the Probation Department for information and got scolded by a clerk. Disheartened, he drove home.</p><p>“They said, ‘Who told you to take the day off work? You will have to come in tomorrow,'” Moore said. “But I can't turn around and take tomorrow off, too. I still have absolutely no idea what I'm supposed to do.”</p><p>He wasn't alone. Throughout the day people straggled in to pay fines, inquire about traffic school or see about other pressing legal matters. They seemed mystified by the closure despite signs and public announcements leading up to it.</p><p>“If I don't pay my fine by today I'm going to lose my license,” said Holly Mooray of Rohnert Park, who said she got a ticket for driving without insurance or registration.</p><p>Greg Loose came all the way from Petaluma to handle a fix-it ticket. He was stopped by the CHP because his tinted windows were too dark, he said.</p><p>He said he tried to pay his fine the week before, on Oct. 12, but the courts were closed for Columbus Day. </p><p>“I've had nothing but frustration with this place,” Loose said as he walked away.</p><p>Many of the anxious and confused wandered into nearby offices seeking advice. Public Defender John Abrahams said they were told to check in with the courts the next day.</p><p>“It's not the end of the world, but it's not the best way of doing business either,” Abrahams said.</p>